#EqualPayDay: President Obama Calls On Congress To Close The Gender Wage Gap

The White House says that African-American women make 60 cents to the dollar a white man makes; white women make 79 cents.

It’s not a secret that women get paid less than men for doing the same job and its legal, but advocates, including President Barack Obama, want to change that. On April 12 for Equal Pay Day, POTUS called on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act,

“When all people know their country is invested in their success, we are all better off. Together, we must rid our society of the injustice that is pay discrimination and restore the promise that is the right of every American: the idea that with hard work, anyone can reach for their dreams and know no limits but the scope of their aspirations,” he said, according to White House.

POTUS also donated a museum and building to honor of the women’s movement. The newly designated monument will now be called the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, the Associated Press noted.

“I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women earned less than men for doing the same work. I want them to be astonished that there was ever a time when women were vastly outnumbered in the boardroom or in Congress, or there was ever a time when a woman had never sat in the Oval Office,” he said.

He added, “I don’t know how long it will take to get there, but I know we’re getting closer to that day.”

According to the White House, white women get paid 79 cents to their dollar, that a white man makes, But Black women make only a mere 60 cents and Latinas 55 cents. Translation: In order to make as much as a white man makes in one year, a Black woman would have to work one full year and an extra six months and twenty-eight days. That’s a lot of extra time to get paid what we are entitled to.